Mako Midori

I have a real soft spot for the kind of presence Mako Midori brought to 1960s Japanese cinema, because she never read as just another pretty ingenue to me. Born in 1944 and breaking through young enough to grab the Blue Ribbon newcomer prize in 1965, she belongs to that wild, restless New Wave era when Japanese film was getting darker, stranger, and a whole lot more dangerous, and she fit right into that mood. There's a smoky, slightly unsettling quality I associate with her, something mysterious and a touch decadent rather than wholesome. At 157cm she wasn't physically imposing, but the camera clearly bent toward her anyway. That she also sang only adds to the cool factor. To me she's a quietly magnetic figure from a golden, gritty chapter of Showa film.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Mako Midori is a Japanese actress and singer born on March 26, 1944. She rose to prominence in the 1960s, earning the Blue Ribbon Award for Best New Actress in 1965 as well as the Golden Arrow Award. Standing 157 cm tall, she built a reputation for a distinctive screen presence that blended intensity and mystery across her dual career in film and music.

Name (English)

Mako Midori

Name (Japanese)

緑魔子

Reading

みどり まこ

Born

March 26, 1944 (age 82)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Monkey

Origin

Japan

Height

157cm

Occupation

Actress / Singer

Awards & achievements

• 1965 — Blue Ribbon Award for Best New Actress
• Year unknown — Golden Arrow Award

Spouse

石橋蓮司

Works summary

Appearances

187 (1964–2020)

By year

1964: 8, 1965: 12, 1966: 7, 1967: 5, 1968: 9, 1969: 11, 1970: 7, 1971: 12, 1972: 5, 1973: 9, 1974: 11, 1975: 12, 1976: 6, 1977: 7, 1978: 6, 1979: 8, 1980: 2, 1981: 3, 1982: 3, 1983: 3, 1984: 1, 1985: 2, 1987: 2, 1988: 1, 1989: 1, 1990: 1, 1991: 1, 1992: 2, 1994: 2, 1995: 1, 1997: 1, 1998: 1, 2000: 1, 2001: 1, 2004: 1, 2006: 1, 2007: 1, 2008: 1, 2009: 1, 2011: 1, 2012: 2, 2013: 1, 2014: 1, 2016: 2, 2017: 1, 2020: 1

Debut work

廃虚の唇

Filmography / notable works

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B7%91%E9%AD%94%E5%AD%90
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6739842

Tags

• Actress
• Singer

Last updated

2026-08-26

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.